Stilla Meditation

In mindfulness meditation we take an attitude based in the seven pillars of mindfulness as introduced by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the creator of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). In doing so we also practise taking the same attitude towards the rest of our life. Non-Judging: Mindfulness involves observing your thoughts and experiences without judgment. This pillar encourages you to become aware of...

When we feel afraid or stressed we tend to move up into our head and lose touch with reality. Our mind become threat focused and go into negative thought patterns such as rumination and catastrophizing. Time tends to feel like a very scarce resource and everything needs to happen now! We tend to prioritise the wrong things because everything seems equally important. I’m sure you recognise stressin...

This poem was shared with me during the week and I wanted to pass it on to you The Laughing Heart by Charles Bukowski your life is your life don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission. be on the watch. there are ways out. there is light somewhere. it may not be much light but it beats the darkness. be on the watch. the gods will offer you chances. know them. take them. you can’t beat death but y...

We talk a lot about presence. We believe that meditation or yoga or other kinds of practises will make us more present, which they will. But what do we mean by that? What is presence? When we take attendance we ask “Is so-and-so present?”, and we say “yes” because our physical body is in the room. This is one level of presence. A deeper form of presence would be to be present with something or som...

I want to share this little paragraph from one of my favorite texts. It’s from the non-duality teacher Fred Davis. ”You think you’re the human being reading these words. You’re not. Well, you actually are that human also, but you’re not that person exclusively. You’re the awareness that’s reading these words through that human being. The human is not reading the words; you are. The human is a read...

When thinking about what to write here I asked myself what I needed to be reminded of myself. The answer I got was the song "Sit around the fire" by John Hopkins, Ram Dass and East Forest. It's a beautiful listening that I recommend a lot. Ram Dass speaks about true nature and the beauty of Being. "Quite the mind, open the heart" - Ram Dass I find myself softening and resonating with what he says....

Some tips and tricks on how to deal with the inner critic, that voice inside that criticise us and makes us feel bad. Step one - Recognise that it is here Feelings of shame and guilt are good clues that it would be useful to take a closer look at what is going on inside. Listen to what the message is behind the feelings, often we only feel the emotion and don’t “hear” the voice until we start list...

The last few days I've been focusing my meditation on "metta", also known as loving kindness. There are many ways to practise this. Previously in this group we have used a kind of mantra that we direct to ourselves and others, for example "May I be safe. May I be happy. May I be free of suffering." After a few days of practising this meditation I notice that I have more kindness to give myself, an...

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” - Viktor Frankl Viktor Frankl was a psychologist, holocaust survivor and the author of the classic book "Man's search for meaning". By getting to know and growing this space in between stimulus and response we increase our freedom and for me that is...

When the Swedish munk Björn Natthiko Lindeblad was asked what was the most important thing he learned from his 16 years as munk he said "I no longer believe everything I think".

My mind was a bit blown some time in 2016 when a friend of mine told me that “we don’t see reality, we see reality filtered through our ego”. Nothing is ever good or bad, right or wrong. No action, no situation, no thought, no feeling, no person, no being. That is just a judgement that we make in our minds. It’s an evaluation of the thing we observe. But it is not the thing itself. The thing itsel...

Gratitude has been proven to - Improved psychological well-being - Enhanced physical health - Strengthened relationships - Reduced stress and anxiety - Increased prosocial behavior What could you be grateful for in this moment? - Can you breath? - Can you see? - Do you have a home? - Are you safe?

I love to find uplifting, heartful messages in the most unexpected places. This song, Advent by Dynazty, is one of them! Let your reflection shine bright like a star Let the world know who you really are You have the power to choose what will be When our true nature’s unleashed then we’re free https://open.spotify.com/track/4WooXdtgs0ZCoOEsmP1LHs

Take three slow deep breaths. Let yourself land in the simplicity of the truth of your heart. Here you are. Smile. Carry on with your day

I want to do some follow up of the story I wrote about two weeks ago. Lately I’ve been invited by life to look at my Egotistical Shadow. In fear of not being good enough or being nobody, this part of me thinks and act with arrogance, egocentricity, inconsiderateness and entitlement. The story about my neighbours is a good mirror for me here. Remember? I got a complaint note about me being too loud...

I received a note from my neighbours lately which in short said “please stop singing, you are disturbing everyone”. I’ve been singing a lot at home lately, and quite loud as well, so I can understand their frustration. It was an interesting experience to notice the shame that came with being “told off”. For a few days I felt bad just stepping out my door. In my head, the message seemed to be “you...

For me, spirituality also has to with authenticity; to live yourself truthfully and let the world know you as you really are. This is inherently vulnerable. When you share yourself you risk being abandoned. But when you withhold yourself from the world, you abandon yourself. Most of us, me included, often abandon ourselves in order to be accepted by others. “Authenticity is the daily practice of l...

A friend of mine has as his life philosophy to live his life as art. I like this view a lot! What would it mean for you if your life was an art project? I come to think of a few things. - It’s not so serious. We can play with it. Just explore what is possible. “What happens if I go this way?” - The process is the goal - What are the colors I paint my life with? Being in all flavours! Love, Curiosi...

Here are some potential benefits of meditation that might inspire you: - Reducing stress and anxiety - Improving focus and concentration - Increasing self-awareness - Enhancing emotional well-being - Boosting immunity - Lowering blood pressure - Improving sleep Overall, meditation can be a powerful tool for promoting physical and emotional well-being, improving focus and concentration, and enhanci...

“We never keep to the present. We recall the past; we anticipate the future as if we found it too slow in coming and were trying to hurry it up, or we recall the past as if to stay its too rapid flight. We are so unwise that we wander about in times that do not belong to us, and do not think of the only one that does; so vain that we dream of times that are not and blindly flee the only one that i...

Out attention can be so pure, so innocent. It was once. As children we met the world without any judgements or opinions. Without the filter of analysis, knowing and controlling. What if I don’t hold my attention back? What if I give my full attention to what is happening now? What if I stop hiding behind the wall of blasé? The ego can be so arrogant to reality, thinking it already knows. But it do...

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other...

When we get stressed it’s easy to get lost in thinking. A great way to reset to a more balanced nervous system is to redirect your attention to the body, feeling your feet for example. Just close your eyes and sense into your feet. Are they hot or cold? Can you feel your shoes or socks? How about the pressure from the floor? Do this for 30 seconds and see what happens. You might notice some tensio...

This week it was one year ago since one of my teachers, Björn Natthiko Lindeblad, passed away. He lived as a monk in Thailand and other places for 16 years before returning to Sweden to teach. On the question “What is the most important thing you have learned as a monk?” he answered: “I no longer believe in all my thoughts”. We’ll see in what way Björn joins us in the session today. I hope to invi...

“True meditation? It’s about coming alive, not numbing yourself to life anymore. It’s about unconditional friendliness and infinite kindness to yourself. It’s about making it safe, finally safe for all of those unloved, un-met, unseen waves – thoughts, feelings, sensations – in the Ocean of You to come out of the depths, out of the darkness, out of the corners and crevices of experience and into t...